With Love
by caseyedith
Summary: Four Oneshots, all KK. Inspired by four drawings by TardisOwner; link provided in my profile. Chapter 1 stands alone, Chapters 2, 3, and 4 follow a common plot. Enjoy : .
1. Chapter 1

With Love

Kenshin and Kaoru

* * *

_How could I be so stupid? What was I thinking, I can't possibly do this… I can't do anything._

_You're such a stupid idiot, Kaoru. Just… just don't try anymore!_

* * *

Kenshin sighed, glad it was the end of the day. School had been really busy, and his brain was aching with information he'd probably forget by the end of the week.

_Just three more days till Friday…_

Outside, it was mostly empty. A few groups of students loitered here and there, enjoying the afternoon sun. Kenshin saw Sanosuke, Megumi, Aoshi, Misao, and Yahiko on the basketball court, where it looked as though Megumi and Sano were having a yelling match over a game of Twenty-one.

"You idiot rooster-head, can't you count?!"

"Yeah, stop yelling at me, foxy, just accept that you LOSE!"

"…" Kenshin shook his head, thinking there would be a better time for him to join his friends, preferably when they weren't in the middle of world war three. Instead, he turned towards the gate, intending to go home and take a nap.

"Kenshin-kun!" A girl's voice caught his ear. Kenshin looked around again and saw that Tomoe-dono was waving at him from the benches by the basketball court. Funny, he hadn't noticed her before… And there was another girl too, sitting hunched over, with a blue ribbon in her hair.

_Isn't that Kaoru-dono? Is she all right?..._

"Hey, Tomoe-dono."

"Hi, Kenshin. I hope you're doing well."

"Great. What's up?"

"Oh, well, actually, I just wanted to ask you about the homework from Saito-sensei's class. I missed because of a guidance meeting."

"Oh, yeah, I have it. So I guess you're about ready to go to University, ne?" Tomoe smiled demurely, ever reserved and ladylike.

"Yes."

Kenshin dictated their calculus homework to her, and then they both bowed in parting. Kenshin looked back to the bleachers, wondering if Kaoru-dono was still there. She was. And something in her posture told him that she was upset. Didn't the other kids even notice her?

Frustrated, Kenshin made a straight course for her.

"Uh, Kaoru-dono?"

Kaoru lurched a little in her seat, surprised that someone dared talk to her when she was like this. She'd yelled at everyone before, and thought the whole school knew by now not to bother her when she was crying. But of course, the one person who wouldn't care…

"Kenshin-san!"

"You can just call me 'Kenshin'," he said, smiling kindly. Kaoru was suddenly conscious of the tear streaks down her face, and turned it away to wipe her eyes. She sensed Kenshin sitting beside her, but didn't bother to look back.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Fine," Kaoru said, too quickly. She wasn't about to explain everything, when it was so pathetic and hopeless. He was better off just leaving her alone. Everyone was…

"Oh. Then, what's with the tears?"

"Nothing! Don't worry about me…"

"…I'm not worrying." Kaoru looked at him in surprise. He was smiling as usual. She blushed, and almost felt like he'd tricked her. It was a well-known fact that Himura Kenshin was clever with words. That's how he'd been elected as President of the Junior Class.

"Everyone knows you can take care of yourself, Kaoru-dono. There's no need to worry. I guess that's why those guys over there aren't trying to comfort you, right?" Kaoru nodded mutely.

"Good. Because, if they were just ignoring you, I'd have to give them a piece of my mind."

"EH?" Kaoru couldn't contain her surprise, and gasped audibly. What was he talking about, why was he being so nice? She and Kenshin were classmates, but hardly knew one another beyond acquaintances. Since when did that make a guy so protective?

"Surprised? Don't be. Just because you can take care of yourself doesn't mean you should all the time. Will you tell me what you're crying about?" Taking a deep, silent breath, Kenshin reached forward to place his hand over Kaoru's. This was a dangerous move, because Kamiya Kaoru was a firecracker, and extremely unpredictable. In the past, most guys who'd tried to touch her in similar ways had been knocked out by a bokken and her yelling.

But this time… She seemed less inclined to violence.

Kaoru blushed, and looked Kenshin in the eyes. He really meant it, he wanted to comfort her. And him being the gentle and kind-hearted person that he was, she guessed that made perfect sense.

Kaoru shifted her position to sit seiza on the bench. Seeing this as a good sign, Kenshin turned towards her too so that they were face to face.

"I… I'm just… having an off day… That's all, Kenshin…" Kaoru looked down and closed her eyes. But not before she saw Kenshin's hand still holding both of her own. Having him care so much about her was, somehow, making her feel even more pathetic. Yet at the same time, she was really glad…

To her surprise, she felt a hand on her cheek. Kenshin was touching her face! But in her emotional state, the only response that came was tears. Kenshin watched fresh tears crawl silently down her cheeks, and knew that this wasn't just an 'off day', and that Kaoru was trying to be strong, for whatever reason. She was seriously hurting about something… His lips set in a grim line, because he didn't like it…

"Well, tomorrow will be better, Kaoru-dono," he said gently, wiping away the tears that fell on his thumb. "You don't have to tell me what's really wrong, unless you want to, but know that…I'm here. And I'll be here."

_Thank you…Kenshin_, Kaoru thought. Suddenly, everything that had made her feel like such a pathetic hopeless loser today seemed silly. She wondered why she was still crying. So what if she failed a Literature test, lost her cell phone, and had once again made a mess in her cooking class? She was just such a perfectionist sometimes, that even these things made her upset enough to devalue all of her good qualities. Perfectionism ran in her family… She had to be the best in everything, to please her uncle, who'd adopted her after her parents died. He expected it.

But so what? Even near perfect people made mistakes, and she wasn't anywhere near perfect. Maybe Tomoe-san was, but even she couldn't cheer Kaoru up like Kenshin just had.

Kaoru opened her eyes, which were suddenly quite dry, and looked at Kenshin shyly. She removed one of her hands from her lap to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Um, Kenshin?"

"Yeah, Kaoru-dono?"

"…You can just call me 'Kaoru' you know…" Kenshin grinned.

"I just, um… Thank you, Kenshin. You really just put things in perspective for me." And then Kaoru smiled.

Kenshin couldn't help but notice how bright her smile was, despite her being so sad just a moment ago.

"You don't have to thank me, Kaoru…

"Happy to help."


	2. Chapter 2

With Love 2

Kenshin and Kaoru

* * *

"Kenshin-chan! Wake up, it's almost time for dinner, honey!" Kenshin jerked awake, hearing his mother's voice calling him from the kitchen. He found himself looking up at the ceiling from his couch, and still listening to the rain that had lulled him to sleep.

"'K, Mom," he called sleepily. He waited another moment, before sitting up. From the corner of his eye, he saw something black moving outside the window. Curious, Kenshin looked more closely.

There was a girl outside. A girl wearing a skirt and long-sleeved blouse, holding a black parasol-looking umbrella over her head. Seeming to sense that someone was watching her, the girl turned slightly so that Kenshin could only see half of her face. She smiled at him and her blue eye glittered mischievously.

"Oro?"

Mystified, Kenshin watched her turn around again and continue on her way.

"Kenshin?"

"Uh, hold on, Mom, I'll be right there!" If he didn't move fast, this strangely fascinating girl was gonna get away in the rain.

Kenshin jumped up from the couch and dashed out the door, still in his socks. The rain was falling gently and dripped through his hair past his ears and settled on his eyelashes.

"Hey, wait!" The girl was already a good hundred feet in front of him, skipping in the drizzling. She heard him, and turned around in a graceful movement, with her mouth open in a smile. She was…singing?

But whatever song she'd been singing, it faded on a last note, and then she said hello.

"Hi! Can I help you?"

"Oro? Oh, uh… What's your name?" Kenshin put a hand behind his head, mildly disconcerted by this surreal meeting. But all the same, it was kinda… cool…

"I'm Kamiya Kaoru. It's nice to meet you…Kenshin." She smiled again, and Kenshin felt his eyes pop open. "ORO?"

Kaoru laughed. "Don't worry! My family just moved here, and your mom already introduced herself. She's really nice. She brought some pastries and a picture of all of you. I wouldn't forget red hair like yours in a long while, Kenshin-kun." She smiled again. Kenshin sighed.

"Oh, yeah, my mom does stuff like that… Well, welcome to the neighborhood, Kaoru-dono." Kaoru's pretty blue eyes lit up, making Kenshin blush slightly.

"Thanks, Kenshin-kun! I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow!" And with that, she twirled around in the rain again and continued on her way.

Kenshin went back inside, still a bit spellbound and puzzled.

_Tomorrow will be an interesting day, I think…_


	3. Chapter 23

With Love 2.3

Kenshin and Kaoru

* * *

_The Next Day_

* * *

Raining again. Kenshin had only caught a glimpse of Kaoru-dono in the morning, when she entered the school building in the dress and jacket girl's uniform, with the same black parasol-umbrella. She'd waved, and he'd waved back, but then she'd been whisked away by the hyperactive Makimachi Misao, another first year.

But now, at lunch time, Kenshin saw a prime opportunity to talk to Kaoru-dono again. He'd honestly been looking forward to it since the rainy day before…

"Oi, Kenshin! Where are you going?" Sagara Sanosuke, Kenshin's tall childhood friend, called to him. He was heading in the direction of their usual lunch table, with Aoshi, Sojiro, Akira, Katsu, and Watsuki. But Kenshin was wandering off in the entirely wrong direction, looking kind of lost and searching the crowd.

Sano 'feh'ed when Kenshin waved him off and kept walking without answering. Sometimes, that red-haired punk was weirdly antisocial, despite being such a popular guy in the student body.

_There!_ Kenshin spotted her, with the usual suspects of the welcoming committee: Misao, Megumi, Tae, Sae, Omasu, and Okon. She seemed to fit right in, sitting between the twins and across from Misao who was chattering non-stop, aided and abetted by the other girls with comments here and there. Kaoru's blue eyes were wide, no doubt unsure of how to handle this onslaught of information about her new school, but she smiled nonetheless, pleased to be so included.

Kenshin took and deep breath and joined them.

"Ken-kun!" Takani Megumi cooed. Kenshin noticed Kaoru give her the funniest sideways glance, before also looking at him and smiling that pretty smile, her baby blue eyes sparkling. A butterfly tickled his stomach inside at the sight.

"Hi, girls," he said cheerily, raising a hand behind his head a little bashfully. They all said hi and he continued: "I see you've met Kamiya Kaoru. I just came over to say hello again; we met yesterday, she lives in my neighborhood."

"Oh, really!" Megumi said, leaning toward Kaoru with interest. Kaoru nodded and Megumi chuckled at some secret joke. "Ohohohoho!"

"So, uh, how's your first day at school, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin looked in her eyes directly, trying to ignore the girls smiling at one another. He liked them all, but sometimes they made him incredibly nervous by doing the most "innocent" of things…

"It's wonderful," Kaoru said, "thanks to my new friends. There are so many nice people at this school…"

"Hai, that there are. So, uh, I should go eat lunch now, but if you'd like, maybe we should walk home together…"

"She'd like it!" Misao spoke for her. Kenshin 'oro'ed softly in surprise, but seeing Kaoru's smiling blush he knew she would have said yes anyway…

"See you later then!"

* * *

"Can I ask you a question, Kenshin-kun?"

Kenshin looked at Kaoru, who was walking beside him towards home. "Sure, Kaoru-dono."

"How come you call me 'Kaoru-dono'?"

"Oro?" Kaoru laughed at his surprise.

"That reminds me of a second question I have…" But she waited for him to answer the first.

"Well, my mom and dad always taught me to be respectful when I address someone, especially girls. 'Kaoru-dono' especially seems to fit you, but I refer to all girls my age as 'dono'."

"Oh! That's very nice… I hope you don't mind that I call you 'Kenshin-kun'… Is there something else you'd like to be called?"

"Nah. I don't mind it…"

"You're very easy going…" Kaoru looked back to the path in front of them, and asked her second question.

"How come you say 'oro'? What does that mean, Kenshin?" Kenshin couldn't help the blush that came to his cheeks. People always asked him this, and he always said the same thing…

"I—I've always said it, since I was a baby. It kind of just comes naturally to me… Plus, my mom said that my Uncle Seijuro used to say it when he was a kid too—it may run in the family."

Kaoru looked back at him wide-eyed. "Is your Uncle really Seijuro-sensei, Kenshin? That's what Misao said, but she was talking so fast about everything I wasn't sure I heard her correctly. Is that giant man really your mother's brother?"

"…Yeah, he is. My family has stayed close over the years. Pretty much everyone lives and works around here, except for my grandparents. They just live in the next town. Hiko-sensei was the one who got me started with kendo."

"And now you're the star of the whole team," Kaoru supplied. She'd heard that from Misao too. Kenshin laughed, embarrassed…

"Well, I guess I'm pretty good. But so is Sojiro, and Makoto. And a bunch of other guys too: Aoshi, Usui, Kamatari, Enishi…" Kaoru listened to him go on about the team a while longer…

"What about you, Kaoru-dono? I've been answering all the questions. Where did you move from?"

"Kyoto… My dad got a job here. He teaches kendo too. Right now he's developing his very own style. I'm the first student of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu."

"Hey, that's pretty cool! We should spar sometime." Kaoru shot him a sly glance, and chuckled softly. "You surprise me, Kenshin," she said. "I didn't think you'd be the type to want to fight a girl… But, I'm glad you suggested it. You're on! I might even join the kendo club now!" They both laughed.

They turned onto Kenshin's street, and he realized that he should probably drop off Kaoru first. "Where is your house, Kaoru-dono? It'd be more polite for me to take you there first."

"Oh, alright. But, I have another question…" Kenshin sighed, thinking, _She asks so many questions… It's not bad though…_

"Where did you get that scar? That's another reason I didn't forget your name." Kenshin touched his cross scar, suddenly remembering it was there. Sometimes he honestly forgot, since the injury had happened so long ago.

"I got it from an evil warlock, who thought I would kill him when I grew up," Kenshin said dramatically, giving Kaoru a leery eye which made her smile awkwardly.

"So then you'll eventually go off to Hogwarts and learn magic? What, don't you think I've read _Harry Potter_, Kenshin?"

Kenshin laughed. "Well, whatever. That's a lot more interesting than what really happened… When I was a baby I crawled out of my crib and fell. Somehow I managed to get this scratch, and it never healed. It's nothing, really… Well, maybe it is a little cool, I guess."

"Definitely cool…" Kaoru agreed.

The rain was starting to let up. Kenshin shook his head to get some of the water off. Kaoru shook her head. "You should have shared my umbrella. You didn't have to get all wet…"

"That wouldn't have helped… Then we'd both be soaked. You're umbrella's only meant for one."

Kaoru closed the umbrella and fixed a mischievous eye on Kenshin again. "Hey, Kenshin-kun…"

"…Yeah?"

"TAG! You're it!" She tapped him with the umbrella and then ran away in the other direction, towards her house just at the end of the street. Kenshin blinked in surprise and raced after her. "Hey, no fair, Kaoru-dono!"


	4. Chapter 234

With Love 2.3.4

Kenshin and Kaoru

* * *

"Hey, Kenshin…" Kaoru sat waiting for her weekly date to meet her outside the coffeehouse near the park. He smiled and reached out for her hand.

Lifting her up, Kenshin pulled her close and kissed her.

"Hey…" he said softly, when they broke apart. He still held her close, with his arms wrapped around her waist and his lips not far from hers.

"Hi…" she said, smiling the way she always did, since he'd met her that day in the rain when they were fourteen. Her blue eyes still glittered like water in the sunlight, and she still wore the ribbon in her ponytail. But ten years later, they were both adults now, and she became more beautiful to him every passing day.

"You wanna skip coffee tonight, Kaoru-dono? I have something else in mind…"

"Something else? I'm up for that—sounds like fun." She tried to move away from him, but he held on. "This _is_ something else, Kaoru-dono…" He pecked her on the lips, as she smiled and rolled her eyes slightly. He was always clever with words…

"Oh, and…" There was another 'something else', which Kenshin held up so close to her eyes that she had to pull her head back to see…

"Oh! _Oh!_ Kenshin!!" He grinned, pleased with her reaction. Her expressiveness made the top ten for reasons why he loved her, even though there were literally thousands.

Wrapped up in their moment, the couple kissed each other again. Kaoru's engagement ring glittered in the light from the lamppost outside the coffee shop. And Kenshin exulted in the beautiful girl he had in his arms… All his, forever.


End file.
